Honey and the Hatchet
by wikelia
Summary: Hiccup was supposed to show everyone what dragons were really like. A slight imbalance on her part puts everything into jeopardy, and Astrid is thrown into a world of dragons, politics, hunters, and almost always something or someone trying to kill her. AU for the first HTTYD. Major character death in first chapter.
1. Chapter 1

One misstep of her foot was all it took.

Suddenly, she had fell off the Night Fury as it took off, shrieking when the giant dragon clamped its teeth right next to her. Hiccup was flying up, up and away to escape, but she was stuck watching him. Had he heard her scream over all the dragons'?

She got her answer when boy and dragon came diving back down, right as the larger dragon rose up. The jaws clamped around a Hideous Zippleback and the dragon's heads fell into the abyss as Astrid stared in horror.

She couldn't move.

She couldn't move!

Hiccup was tugging at her, yelling, "Come on!" but she was paralyzed. Not in fear, but resignation, almost. Everything was happening all at once -

\- Hiccup was pulling her onto the Night Fury -

Maybe her uncle really had frozen before he died. Maybe it really was a Hofferson thing. Whether it was or not didn't change that she'd soon be contributing to the family tradition.

Now she was being thrown forward and holding onto the Night Fury for dear life.

"Go!" Hiccup screamed, and he certainly wasn't talking to her. The dragon beat its wings as they rose in the air. It was shrieking like mad, as though...as though…

Gods above, it was about to fall.

But Hiccup had been controlling it! So what the Hel was he doing, why wasn't he doing the legwork, was he trying to get them all killed!?

It dawned on Astrid, like a slow sickness right before it killed you.

Hiccup -

\- hadn't gotten on -

Hiccup -

"HICCUP!" she screamed, looking down.

Their eyes met, for exactly a second. Tears were streaming down his face, and he looked terrified. His eyes were pleading. Pleading for her to save him. To somehow come down, grab his arm, drag him out of the mountain.

But a second really wasn't all that much time.

The dragon - the queen of the dragons - rose up again, opened its mouth, and Hiccup was gone. The last face she ever saw on him was horrifying, burned into her mind, as she flew higher and higher, looking down at him being eaten alive.

No one could hear her screams. No other human being was there. And even if there were other vikings around, they wouldn't be able to make out her pitiful shrieks when hundreds of dragons were shrieking much louder.

But none louder than the Night Fury.

They couldn't even try.

Both of them continued to scream even as the sharp cold air hit them. The dragon beat its wings one last time, and then they were falling.

She wanted to die. She had let go of the Night Fury's neck and was now falling on her own, still screaming her throat raw, as though if she screamed loud enough it would bring the heir of Berk back.

But she'd join him. As soon as she hit the ground, she'd be with Hiccup.

Or, she would have been, if the Night Fury hadn't tackled her halfway and taken the fall for her, leaving her with only bruises and dirt when he let her go to roll onto the rocks.

Vomit was riding in her throat, so she gave out one last, hopeless scream before vomiting the contents of her stomach onto the rocks, her eyes closing as the first few tears fell.

Why hadn't the dragon let her die?

She wanted to.

Hiccup had been right. His friend wasn't a killing machine.

Or maybe it was, because the second she stopped vomiting, it pounced on her, pinning her to the ground.

Astrid felt her own snot mixed with the taste of vomit as she struggled to breathe under the Night Fury. Dust was getting in her eyes.

Toothless was what Hiccup had called him.

Toothless probably wanted to kill her himself. Maybe a measly fall that would break all the bones in her body wasn't enough.

Astrid agreed with him, but as she choked over his claw pressing into her neck, she made the mistake of looking at him.

Really, actually, looking at him.

She'd seen a dragon killed before. But she'd never seen one defeated.

And who had known that it was the death of a human that would cause a beast to look so

broken? So morose?

His face said all she already knew. She was the reason they were near the mountain in the first place. She was the reason they hadn't been able to escape. She deserved it.

When she saw her reflection in the dragon's eyes, she saw the same look Hiccup had been wearing the last second of his life. Toothless hadn't seen him, he'd been looking up.

And yet, as though he recognized a familiar face, he pulled away from her, looked up to the sky, and screeched so loudly and so painfully it made her dizzier than she already was. Every part of her body screamed in protest.

Toothless ran off towards the mountain, throwing his entire body against it, blasting it, roaring at it. But even if he could break open a mountain, he couldn't bring someone back to life.

Astrid attempted to get up, and then let out a cry as she fell back down again. The dragon may have spared her death, but she was mistaken in thinking she had only gained cuts and bruises. Something was definitely broken.

Besides her world, of course.

The dragons still on the island were closing in on her. Every word Hiccup had said rang in her ears, that the dragon were kind and gentle creatures, and that they didn't really want to harm anyone.

Astrid didn't have the will, the stamina, or the means to fight them anyway.

She let sleep overtake her, knowing she most likely wouldn't wake up again. The last thing she saw was a flash of Hiccup's pleading green eyes looking into her's, and Toothless's scream rang out again.

They had discovered the dragons' nest.

 **Okay, so bear with me here, I don't think I'll be continuing this, but it's a fun idea to think about. A what if for Hiccup sacrificing himself to get Astrid and Toothless out of the nest.**

 **Is everyone OOC? Yeah, but I'm trying to write again, so…**

 **If this gets enough attention I MIGHT write a second chapter. I do have things imagined for this story, but I'm also VERY busy, and I've started a new HTTYD fandom project that's gonna require a lot of attention.**

 **Just...let me know what you think? I guess?**


	2. Chapter 2

Well, she wasn't dead.

That was Astrid's first thought when she woke up. She was leaning against a large rock, and there were no dragons around her. The sun had risen, recently - an hour before this was typically when she got up to practice her morning routine.

It wasn't a dream, at the very least, she was still stuck on an island. She wasn't losing her mind, at least not in the usual way. And Hiccup was still…

Her...something was still broken, and after moving around a little, it she guessed the something was her rib. It wasn't a sharp hot pain anymore, but rather a dull that was ...there. Just like she was only there on the island.

Just like Hiccup was only gone.

Turned out, her head was throbbing too.

She spotted the Night Fury near the water, laying down. Had he fended off all the other dragons…? Could he even do that?

She turned her head to look at the mountain, and a multitude of shivers went through her when she remembered that she was next to the largest dragon she had ever laid eyes on. Inside was the beast that killed Hiccup.

Toothless walked closer to her, and she backed away, ignoring the pain. The absolute desperation she'd had before had faded slightly, and while she didn't particularly want to live, she didn't quite want to die either.

But he didn't attack her. He only stared, and Astrid stared back.

Hiccup had talked to the dragon. It was intelligent enough to understand people, so it would understand her too, right? Or was it just Hiccup, just their special bond?

"I need to get off the island," she croaked, surprising herself with how hoarse her voice sounded, "I have to go back to - to Berk."

Surely, someone had noticed her and Hiccup were gone. An unpleasant feeling bloomed in her stomach when she realized that she would have to be the one to tell Stoick the Vast that his heir was dead. She would have to admit that his death had been caused by a dragon. And the worst part, she would have to say that Hiccup wouldn't even want him to kill a dragon as revenge - because Hiccup had done the impossible and befriended one.

Speaking of which, the Night Fury made no indication he understood her.

Dragons didn't speak. What was she expecting, for him to rumble out a response for her to get on?

It didn't do that, but it did motion with its head in a manner that said he wanted her to follow, so Astrid shakily got up, stumbling on her feet. She didn't take a step before she fell forward, hissing out when her hand got cut on a rock. There was no blood, but it stung.

He looked at her as though she was stupid - as if she was falling on purpose. Astrid scowled at the judgemental look, pushing herself up again. She felt a stab of pain, but willed herself to walk, not let it affect her.

There, by the shore, were a few fish. She stared at him with an impassive look on her face, before slowly reaching for one.

Toothless snatched all three of them before she could lay a finger on them, his sudden approach making her pull back with a gasp.

Oh gods, was the dragon's plan to keep her here and starve her? To torment her, as he slowly ate every food he brought? To kill her slowly, begging for food or release?

It didn't register to her that she was jumping to conclusions rather fast until Toothless made a strange gurgling sound, and the three fish were at her feet, half eaten.

Astrid scrunched her nose, taking two steps back and glaring at the dragon, who was looking at her expectantly.

"What, you think I'm gonna - oh no." She let out a delirious laugh, shaking her head, "I am not eating your disgusting crud. Thanks, but I have a habit of not eating things that'll make me sick."

Tufts of air came out from his nose as he glared at her. Astrid stood her ground, glaring right back, even going so far as to kick the fish away.

Wrong move. The dragon let out a furious roar, forcing her to take three steps back. Well, fuck - how was she supposed to know the mannerisms of dragon dining?

It didn't take its eyes off her as it ate the fish again, slowly and deliberately. What a petty little -

Well, she didn't need the damn dragon. Taking off her skirt and throwing it to the side, she padded into the water, shivering when she felt how cold it was. There had to be fish, she had to show that stupid dragon that she could survive without his help. She waded in as deep as she could.

There were a few little ones, but nothing that could qualify as a meal. Then she saw it.

It was a halibut, swimming along its merry way. Well, unfortunately, the merry life came to an end now, because she needed to eat.

Astrid lunged forward just as something wacked at her legs. She fell with a shriek, as she both felt the pain in her rib explode and the breath get sucked out of her lungs as she went underwater.

When she was five, she had fallen, just like this, into the water, and it had been horrible. She had kicked and screamed and cried in the few seconds before her mother lifted her out of the water, with her father throwing his oversized cloak over her and both of them checking her over.

Her younger self had sworn off swimming that day. The other teens learned - even Hiccup, although he was lagging behind the whole time - but she had stayed away, never wanting to experience that terrifying feeling again.

And yet, here she was.

When she managed to stand up, gasping and spitting out water, she opened her eyes quick enough to see the Night Fury devouring the halibut whole, smirking at her.

Astrid let out a shriek of indignation. It really was torturing her. Maybe it didn't want to kill her, but rather wanted her to end herself.

She wiped the water out of her eyes and went back onto the island. The sharp pain was back after the two falls, and pathetically, she fell to the floor, breathing heavily and shutting her eyes tight. It hurt so much.

Behind her, she heard the Night Fury laughing.

Furious, Astrid turned around, still sitting, and screamed.

"Do whatever you want, you demon!" Astrid had thought she had no tears left, but she proven wrong as her chest heaved. "It won't bring him back! He's still dead! Hiccup is dead!"

For the first time, she didn't care that the dragon looked furious. Oh, so it was a Night Fury, big fucking deal. She could be just as horrible and petty.

"You can kill me, you can starve me, you can burn down every resource on this island, but it won't bring him back!" She clenched her fists and swallowed. "I-if there was a way to bring him back, I would have done it already! I - I would have…" Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. "I would have…done it already..."

She would have. She would have. Even now - if Odin could come down and tell her these was a way to bring Hiccup back to life, she would.

She expected death. Saying something so dirty, snooping so low, should have gotten her killed.

Astrid didn't open her eyes, scared that the minute she did, it would kill her, so that she would see it. She refused to submit herself to that.

Something finally hit her face, but it wasn't anything hot, it was...scaly.

She opened her eyes to see a minnow lying in front of her, and a few feet away, Toothless looking, with no expression on his face. It wasn't half eaten, and perfectly fresh.

Astrid levelled her gaze on the dragon, and then, deciding that she finally had to swallow her pride, picked up the fish. "I need a fire."

Toothless grumbled, coming closer as she cleared some rocks away. At the very least, she did know how to survive on an island (and would have gotten the damn fish if he hadn't pushed her) so a fire was no problem.

But even that the dragon refused to let her do on her own. He barely waited for her to move her hands before he shot at the ground, and the nearly blinding purple light turned into a bright orange fire.

She shot him another glare, and he snorted.

The fish took a good few minutes to be edible. She'd had to cook carefully so she wouldn't burn her hands - there was no stick she could skewer with, the island was just made up of rocks.

As she ate, she observed the dragon carefully. She knew he couldn't fly on his own - hence her broken rib - and that someone needed to operate the fin. Well, wasn't that absolutely spectacular, seeing as it was something she'd probably never figure out?

The only way back would be to sail (she swiftly ignored the thought in her head asking what she would do when she got back). She had seen a boat last night - only it was hung up on a rock, and destroyed. Well, fuck.

"We need to get off the island." When Toothless looked at her, she waved a hand to make a sailing motion. "I have to go back."

If a dragon could look unimpressed, then he looked unimpressed.

"Okay - listen, you really, really deserved me being mad at you."

His eyes flicked down to the fish in her hands, and back up at her face.

"Yeah, you made up for it. So it's a truce, isn't it? Or is now the part where you go back to being a dick?"

Toothless's expression changed from dubious to irritated rather quickly, but this time, she saw what was coming.

Not wasting a second, she brought the rest of the fish up to her face and stuffed it in her mouth, right as the dragon lunged.

Her cheeks bulging with food, she smirked at the dragon victoriously.

Then, the strangest thing happened - it started to pout.

It. Started. To. Pout.

But since she wasn't affected (okay, maybe just a little affected), she simply spit it out on the floor and said, "Let's see how you like -"

The dragon eagerly dived down, and slurped up the fish, nearly making her throw up in her mouth. Yeah, she was definitely no longer hungry.

The demon didn't seem to understand that she hadn't done it to be nice. He was now doing some sort of weird gummy smile at her (it was seriously creepy) before it nudged to her side.

Astrid sighed. "Oh, so sharing food made you like me?"

No wonder they'd managed to kill dragons for centuries - they were Thor-damned stupid. He was an idiot if he thought she was trying to be his friend.

"Whatever." She scooted away, staring him dead in the eye. "So, are you going to help me get off or not? Maybe I can make some boat if you can show me if there's any logs on this island -"

It was nudging up to her again! This time, Toothless pressed his nose into her hand, and then opened his eyes wide, as though he had shown her something brilliant.

Astrid gave him a deadpan look. "That doesn't help."

He kept himself there for a few seconds before beating his wings. A gust of wind hit her face and Astrid got a mouthful of her own hair. She spit it out, glaring at the dragon yet again.

He was demonstrating something to her. He couldn't be telling her to fly him, because he wasn't that stupid. He must have known she couldn't. But then what was he…

When it hit her, she made a face before the words came out of her mouth.

"Fly another dragon?" She growled lightly. "In your dreams, demon! In your dreams! There is no way I'm getting on a disgusting…"

He nudged into her hand again.

"vile -"

He looked towards the sky.

"horrible -"

He finally roared at her, just as she shouted, " - dragon!"

The dragon roared again and left her, running back to the seashore. Good riddance! Flying a dragon, what kind of maniac would…

Hiccup would. He had. Wasn't that the whole reason they were there?

Astrid suddenly felt a stab of anger at Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third.

He'd been good for nothing. A disappointment. Then he'd gotten in her way. Then he'd become some macho dragon fighter and taken her spot, while cheating his way to the top. He'd been infuriating, and horrible, and a dirty cheat.

And then he had the gall to go die and leave her here after turning her world upside down.

The fucking prick.

Astrid felt like crying again, but she didn't. She laid down on her back and screamed out every curse word she knew, and by the end, her throat hurt and she had forgotten who she was mad at.

* * *

Toothless left her alone for the rest of the day. She got her own fish and made her own fire and ate by herself. When she wasn't doing that, she was thinking.

Fat lot of good that did. Nothing was accomplished.

The cold settled in as night fell, the comforting presence of the sun gone again. No dragons appeared overhead - there must not have been any raids tonight. Maybe Her Highness The Dragon Queen was full.

Her hands were cold to the touch, and so was her face. She didn't dare run her fingers through her hair, scared of the tangles. She most definitely had a fever.

She heard Toothless come up behind her, and she faced him. He was observing her carefully - from what she could tell - and he made a motion, as though he was about to spread his wings but changed his mind, going off the other way.

"Wait."

The dragon turned its head, his eyes somehow appearing bright even in the dark.

"Okay," she said, her teeth chattering, "I'll train the damned dragon."

 **This was very fun to right but I'm panicking because I have an essay due tomorrow and I haven't written a single word of it.**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, there was fish in front of her.

Astrid sat up, brushing her hands through her hair, which was really tangled now. She probably looked feral. The thought made her cringe a little.

Toothless was prowling in front of her - it looked a little similar to pacing. He hadn't seen her wake up yet.

She poked the fish, and called out, "Was this thing in your mouth?"

He looked at her, a small puff of air escaping his nose, and stepped forward, staring at her as though she was being ridiculous (maybe that was his normal face, and she only thought it meant that because she herself thought she was being ridiculous).

Astrid took her time making a fire, but didn't waste any eating the fish after it was cooked, savoring each bite. She didn't taste spit, thankfully.

The second she finished the last bite, she didn't even get the chance to lick her fingers before Toothless was nudging her, trying to make her stand up.

"What?" she snapped, stumbling to her feet. "You need me to scratch you or something?"

She got a tail whack for that one, but remained standing where she was.

He stared at her impatiently before looking towards the other side of the island. The dragon trotted behind her.

"Hey, hey! Hey!" She yelped when he went under her, shoving her on his back before making a run for it. Her rib exploded in pain again, but she only grit her teeth and grabbed onto the saddle. That was when Astrid remembered her promise last night, that she was going to train a dragon.

A dragon.

She swallowed. What kind of dragon would she train? How would she even train it? And while she could just land in the forests of Berk where no one would see her, how would she explain how she had gotten back?

And then was it back to a life of dragon killing?

Astrid sighed, even as her fingers clutched Hiccup's saddle so she wouldn't fall off Toothless, who was still running, showing no signs of stopping. Even if she wasn't particularly fond of the Night Fury, going back to killing dragons would be an insult to Hiccup's memory.

And of course, there was the bigger picture, which was that this could legitimately stop the war.

But the queen would have to go first. And the thought of even seeing her again made Astrid nauseous.

It was too, too much to worry about. Becoming a dragon killer sounded like a piece of cake compared to the task ahead of her.

Finally Toothless stopped, very nearly throwing her off. And then there were dragons.

Oh Thor, there were dragons.

None of them seemed to notice her. They were going about their business, but Astrid bowed her head down, grateful that the wild hair at least concealed her face.

She leaned down enough for Toothless to hear her and whispered, "Now what?"

He let out a tiny snort, as though to ask her how he was supposed to know, so she sighed, slowly getting off and looking around.

Well, it was time to solve the first problem. Which dragon would it be?

Astrid took one step towards a Deadly Nadder that was grooming itself but Toothless stepped in front of her almost immediately, shaking his head.

"Why not?" she hissed. She figured it would be best, since a Gronckle was too slow, a Hideous Zippleback too exotic (would she have to train both heads?), and a Monstrous Nightmare too, well, monstrous.

He spread out his wings and made out a flying motion before jumping into the air. The Nadder that she had been about to reach got started and flew away from them.

"Yeah, to fly off. Why not a Deadly -" She paused, furrowing her brows as something occurred to her. She didn't know if it was the same thing Toothless was telling her, but it was a clear reason why she couldn't train a Deadly Nadder.

She was planning on bringing Toothless with her, if he was willing to go. Hiccup would never want him stuck on an island, unable to fly. If she took him back to Berk, maybe she could look at Hiccup's notes, or ask Gobber for help without letting him know what she was doing, and make some sort of tailfin that would let him fly on his own. Then they could part ways.

But there was no way a Deadly Nadder could lift a Night Fury. In fact, the only one that could was probably…

She swallowed. A Monstrous Nightmare.

Astrid turned, and she fixated on the one her eyes landed on first. A huge, blood red dragon that was lounging on a rock. She took two steps towards it.

The Nightmare looked up abruptly, and her heart nearly stopped beating. She looked back at Toothless, but he was just staring at her expectantly. No help there.

"Hey, dragon," she said quietly, knowing it wouldn't hear her. She took another two steps, and held up both hands. She was shaking.

She had no weapon, her rib was broken, and if this dragon wanted to kill her, it would have no problem.

The Nightmare looked up at her, at first with a blank face, but when it saw her getting closer, it growled, very quickly getting off the rock and closer to her.

Astrid stepped back, taking a shaky breath. She outstretched her hands.

Now that it was so close, she could see a bola mark on its neck. Oh, great. Some idiot had to seal her fate for her.

"I won't give up," she whispered under her breath, reciting the words to a song her mother used to sing to her, "That's one thing I swear will be true. For it's said by the wise, keep your eyes on the prize."

The memory of her mother, who was probably at home sick with worry, made her a little bolder.

"And I've got my eyes on you."

Astrid stepped closer, and now her and the dragon were almost touching. It was staring at her with a silent fury, but she held still.

Then she took a leap of faith and touched the bola mark gently.

It growled, baring its teeth, and Astrid shut her eyes, but the Nightmare made no move to kill her. She took a shaky breath, opening her eyes and looked into the dragon's eyes.

Her mother's song continued to aid her. "It's hard to trust, when you've been misunderstood." She kneeled down and whispered, "Starting now, we'll be treated like we should."

It was still glaring, but now that she knew it didn't plan to kill her, she stood up. "So let's take this ride till it's true."

Come on, come on. Almost there. That had to be enough bonding, right?

Astrid slowly went behind it, and placed one leg over it's neck.

Big mistake.

Toothless roared as the Nightmare took off and Astrid screamed. Her hands found the Nightmare's horns immediately and she gasped as they got higher and higher.

If he got too high, she wouldn't be able to breathe.

Astrid began to scream, hoping it could hear over the wind pounding. "I won't give up, that's one thing I swear will be true! And I won't give in, I'm stronger than they ever knew!"

Odin give her strength.

"Don't try to run, cause I'll just be there when you do!"

She tugged on its horns, grunting. The Nightmare stopped all of a sudden, propelling her upwards, and she would have fallen if she hadn't been gripping the horns so tightly. She was still screaming her mother's song - if her strength wouldn't matter, she still wanted to be thinking of her mother when she died.

Then the Monstrous Nightmare went plunging down and Astrid lost all thought, only focusing on staying close to the dragon.

Right as they were about to hit the ground, it flattened out its wings and she gasped, panting as they landed smoothly on the ground.

She was alive.

She didn't even realize she was still mindlessly saying the words of the song. "- for it's said by the wise, keep your eyes on the prize."

She stepped off after it lowered it's neck. The Nightmare turned to face her, no longer furious but looking almost wise, before bowing its head.

Astrid breathed softly in shock. It was as though they reached an understanding...some form of acceptance that she was just as strong as the dragon.

"And I've got my eyes on you."

Toothless came up to her side, roaring at the Nightmare loudly enough for it to step back. Not it, Astrid was pretty sure it was a she.

Putting a hand on Toothless's snout, she said, "Stop. It's okay, I think we're good to go home."

Home. Oh gods, home. She could go home.

She faced Toothless and frowned when he looked up at her. "You're coming too, right?"

He snorted, nudging into her side. She felt a dull pain, but pushed it to the side.

"You can't be trapped here forever. Hiccup wouldn't want you to be." She took a step back. "The Nightmare can carry you. We can go. Please."

Toothless bowed his head, and Astrid took it as a yes.

She got onto the Monstrous Nightmare and leaned close to it, whispering, "Can you pick him up?"

She answered by spreading her enormous wings and gently rising in the air, her claws hooking onto Toothless's saddle and lifting him off the ground. Astrid sighed in relief.

It was ridiculously uncomfortable without a saddle, but she'd manage.

"It won't be too far, I promise." She held onto the horns again, trying to calm her nerves. This was crazy. Hiccup had been crazy.

As they left the island, Astrid looked back at the mountain. She swallowed, a few tears blurring her vision. Hiccup was never going to escape. He was dead. And it was her fault.

It was a short trip - if she had to guess, it was noon when she saw her island, and her breath hitched.

Finally.

"Alright, I'll drop you off in the cove, okay?" Her eyes scanned the village. "Both of you can hide out there while -"

"GET THEM DOWN!"

Astrid looked down in alarm as two bolas whipped their way towards them, and she had no time to even yell out before there was one around the Nightmare, and one around Toothless, and all three of them were falling.

The dragons both started to bellow in different ways, but she didn't scream this time. She shut her eyes, her mind going into overdrive. Gods above, they were about to see her on a dragon. There was no time to come up with a plan, no time to think of anything.

The only time a scream escaped her was when they hit the ground and she fell off, her rib protesting violently.

The villagers pounced immediately, grabbing at the dragons' mouths before they could shoot, and shoving them down. She could barely lift a finger to stop them.

No, no, no. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

She heard her mother gasp. "Astrid?"

There was an outburst of shouts, but no one made any move to help her up. It wasn't long before the focus turned to Toothless.

"Odin's beard!" That was Gobber. "Night Fury!"

"Out of my way!"

The chief.

Astrid managed to look up as he stared down at her, more angry than she'd ever seen any dragon. In that moment, she was more terrified than when she'd been on a wild dragon ride.

He didn't ask her anything. He looked at the dragons, his eyes focusing down on Toothless.

"Put him with the others. Kill the other one."

"No!" she managed to scream out, right as a sword came down, separating the Nightmare's head from its body.

Astrid struggled to get up, but it was no use. The deed was done. The dragon wouldn't even have been on Berk if not for her. That was two deaths on her conscience.

Her outcry caused more yelling, and her head spun. Toothless was strong, but even he couldn't fight the dozens of men handling him, with a bola already pinning him down.

"Astrid Hofferson!" the chief thundered, glaring down at her. Her eyes found the other teens, who were simply looking confused, and sympathetic.

Her mother had no expression on her face.

"Astrid Hofferson, you are under arrest!"

"What?" she whispered weakly. After screaming, her voice held no more will to go any higher than that.

Surely, surely they couldn't do this.

"You are under arrest, for the murder of my son!"

 **I know Stormfly has lifted Toothless, and so a Nadder can lift a Night Fury, but Astrid doesn't know that, and it wouldn't seem like it at first glance.**

 **The song that Astrid is reciting is I've Got My Eyes On You from Disney Enchanted Tales.**

 **A lot happened this chapter! Also, it's the first time I've written so much for HTTYD in forever.**


	4. Chapter 4

**What? I'm updating? Posting a chapter of a multi-chapter fic? Damn, maybe I've lost my mind.**

"I won't give up, that's one thing I swear will be true…"

Astrid sang quietly to herself in the cell, trying to find a position to lie down that didn't make her sore. She mentally swore that once she got out of here, there was no way she was coming back. Jail cells weren't comfortable.

Of course, there were her nightmares too. Horrific dreams where Hiccup pulled her down with him, or left her behind, or worse - when he appeared as some kind of spirit telling her it was her fault he died. Which it was.

Some of the dreams had the Monstrous Nightmare she'd befriended, the dragon's eyes haunting her as an axe was brought down on the creature. In some of the dreams her and Toothless were executed as well.

It had only been two nights.

Two nights, and so many horrors.

Astrid woke up at the crack of dawn, her neck aching. Just something to add to the list, she thought bitterly. Her injuries hadn't been tended to at all.

No questions had been asked either. Everyone looked horrified that she had been on the back of a dragon, but the crime that she was being punished for was the murder of Berk's heir, and while she agreed - it was her fault - how could the Berkians possibly know what had happened at the dragons' nest?

Astrid sat up, leaning her head against the wall and panting. Her stomach growled. She'd been sitting in the cell since noon two days ago, with not a visitor in sight, and no one to feed her. She'd called for assistance, but no one came.

All she had there was a dusty broom and a bucket for her bathroom needs. Nothing else at all.

If the gods were punishing her, they were doing a great job.

Her mother's eyes kept haunting her too, and it only intensified when she didn't come to see her.

Why couldn't anyone at least come to tell her what was going to happen to her now?

"For it's said by the wise, keep your eyes on the prize…"

"It's also said by the wise that singing to yourself is a sign of madness."

Astrid's head snapped up to see Ruffnut Thorston, her hands on the bars, grinning at her.

"Hey, pretty lady."

Astrid scoffed, stumbling to stand up and walk over to her. She motioned to her hair and face before saying hoarsely, "Not really...pretty, right now."

"Damn, your voice sounds awful." Ruff wrinkled her nose and turned around, picking up what Astrid saw was a wrap. She slid it through the bars. "Here. Bread, a comb, and some hair ties."

Astrid grabbed the bread first, taking a huge bite out of it and savoring the taste. Ruff had clearly taken something fresh, because the bread was warm, and soft, and absolutely perfect.

Eating hurt, though, and she sat down in front of the bars, taking a deep breath.

"Where did you…"

Ruff smirked. "Stole it from Tuff. The idiot thought he already ate it."

Both girls were quiet for a few seconds as Astrid snarfed down the rest of the bread. She licked her fingers - even though there wasn't much to lick - and then mourned the fact that Ruff had brought no water, until the girl produced a flask of just that.

She was greedy about every last drop.

"You'll get in trouble," Astrid said when she was done, feeling a little dizzy. She forced herself to focus on Ruffnut.

"Not if no one knows." She kneeled down so the two girls were face to face. "So…"

Astrid sat back and leaned against the wall, wrapping an arm around herself. "So?"

She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like what was going to follow.

Ruff's lips quirked into a smile. "Was the murder brutal, or -"

Astrid threw the flask at her as hard as she could as a wave of nausea overcame her. She knew Ruff was joking, and she didn't really think that she had killed Hiccup, but his actual death was still fresh in her mind, and probably always would be.

She'd never be able to joke about it.

Ruffnut ducked, laughing as she looked at her. "Do you know where he is, at least?"

"He's dead," Astrid said without any trace of humor, looking down and trying to fight her stomach's will, "but I didn't...well, I…"

She looked up to see Ruff's eyes widened and her hands gripping the bars tightly. "Holy shit. He's actually gone? What happened, Astrid? Where did you go? How the hell did the dragons get you?"

Astrid opened her mouth, not to answer, but to say that she could never just casually tell Ruffnut as though it was some bedtime story. She couldn't dishonor Hiccup like that. There had to be a - a better time, a better place, and gods, couldn't she see Gothi first? She didn't get a chance to say any of this, however - because there were footsteps, and Ruff had to scramble away.

She sat back and breathed heavily as the chief came in. His eyes were blazing, there was bloody murder in them.

"I didn't -" Astrid managed to get out before he opened the cell and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to her feet and dragging her out. Astrid shut her eyes, tearing up. The pain was getting to her, gods, she needed Gothi.

Two men took her, holding her by the arms firmly as they followed the chief.

It was humiliating. She could feel everyone's eyes on her, watching her dragged around like some sort of - some sort of criminal. The only good thing was that they weren't making her walk, but that wasn't all too helpful - the chief's roughness had done enough for her to be biting the inside of her lip to stop from screaming.

Astrid tasted blood.

Their destination was the Kill Ring, where the two men unceremoniously threw her to the floor. Astrid bit back a sob - this wasn't how prisoners were treated, they weren't put on show for the whole village to come and gawk at. Why…

She knew why. It was because Hiccup was gone. It was because Chief Stoick was broken.

"Astrid Hofferson!"

Astrid struggled to sit on her knees and looked up beyond the bars, to see the chief sitting on his chair, looking down at her. Quite a number of people had gathered, and Astrid felt a stab of fury mixed with her grief.

How dare they? How dare they think the worst of her? How dare they think she would murder her heir? And how dare they all come to watch her humiliated like this?

Had she made enemies in her fifteen years of life, or were her people just backstabbers?

"You are on trial for the murder of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!"

She trembled, this time in anger, as she looked up at everyone who was gawking, and then - her mother. Standing right next to the chief, she made no motion to indicate that it was her daughter who was being degraded in front of the entire village.

"The murder of the heir of Berk, and my son." If looks could kill, he would have ended her by now.

Astrid looked at him, really looked at him, and pleaded quietly, "I didn't kill him."

She had, but not in any way Stoick could possibly imagine.

"Lies!"

"What's your proof?" She wished someone else would ask. It was hurting to speak now.

Stoick made a motion to someone behind him and then turned around, showing her...her axe.

Astrid gasped softly and her eyes widened, as Stoick ran his thumb over the blade. "We found this on the island when we started looking for you. The others said you had been quite jealous of my boy's success."

At this, Astrid looked around until her eyes fell on the teens - Ruffnut, who had probably just arrived, looked breathless, and the others looked confused but guilty. Served them right.

Snotlout's eyes met hers and she saw him grip the bars a little tighter, but she looked away.

Stoick was about to say more when Gobber spoke up, cutting him off. "Lass, we dinnae want tae think the worst of ye, but we need some proof that ye did nae do it."

The chief did not agree with this sentiment, but Astrid seized her chance. She bit down hard on her tongue and stood up, gasping in pain but shouting out, "There is no blood on that axe! There is no body where the axe was found!"

"So where is the body? Where is Hiccup? WHERE IS MY BOY?" Stoick stood up as he started shouting furiously and Astrid, feeling another wave of dizziness, stepped back, trying not to fall.

"He...he…" Astrid swallowed, shaking. "He's dead."

All around the Kill Ring, people erupted into shouting, many of them pointing at her as though she had just confessed. Stoick was nearly red with rage, and Gobber looked devastated. Her mom had a silent fury in her eyes, the kind that would normally mean she was about to get a flogging.

"I didn't kill him!" She looked down, clenching her fists. "I - we were - we were ambushed by dragons, and he died saving me!"

It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was close enough. Hiccup had died saving her, and it had been because of a dragon. She just forgot to mention that it wa a dragon who had saved her as well.

"The...the Nightmare found me." She swallowed, keeping her eyes on the ground as tears blurred her vision. "He t-took me back to the nest. Then the Night Fury showed up."

There were no whispers anymore. That one sentence seemed like something that had turned the tides, and it had. It really had. The Night Fury "showing up" had turned her entire life upside down.

"I don't know what happened. But suddenly we were heading back to Berk." Astrid looked up at the chief, squinting because of the tears. "I was jealous, yes, but not jealous enough to have him killed. I'm not a maniac."

(She looked like one, though.)

Stoick didn't look any less angry, but her mother's expression changed. Instead of one of understanding, or of guilt, it became one of disgust. Disgust at her, she could tell.

She was the one who had failed to protect the heir.

"Take her back to the cell."

Astrid groaned under her breath, her head bowing again. No, no, no, not back there, not back to solitude and nightmares and pain -

"Wait, Chief!" a voice rang out.

Everyone's head swerved.

There were certain people she'd wanted to speak out on her behalf. But she didn't want someone whose family was in an even lower rank than her own. She didn't want someone who no one would take seriously. She didn't want Tuffnut Thorston to be the one speaking out.

"She's hurt," Tuff said matter-of-factly, "she needs medical care."

Mrs. Thorstons' audible gasp rang across the room as everyone broke into muttering. Who was he to address the chief at a time like this, and in favor of the one he hated most at the moment? Tuff met Astrid's eyes for a second. He looked more serious than she'd ever seen him.

"Criminals do not -" Stoick began.

"Yes, they do, Chief," Gobber interrupted sharply.

Stoick's fists clenched, but he nodded to Gothi, who gestured to Gobber to go fetch Astrid, who breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Tuffnut, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. He was engaged in an argument with Snotlout.

Did Snotlout seriously want her to go rot in jail?

Gobber picked her up gently. Her arm flopped and she looked up as people started leaving the arena. The show was over.

"Astrid," Gobber said gently, "does this hurt?"

She looked up at him and said as calmly as she possibly could without screaming, "Everything hurts."

As they followed Gothi to her hut, they passed her mother.

Astrid's thoughts were filled with two things. One, that it was stupidly impractical that Gothi live so high up and far when she was the town healer.

And second, she sincerely hoped that no one would look at her the same Ingrid Hofferson just had ever again.

 **Please review! I am pretty invested in this, but I have carpal tunnel, which leaves me with zero motivation to write.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heyyyy, all. It's been a couple of months, huh? Anyway, this story is still my baby and I love it, so here's another chapter for all you wonderful people.**

It was a quiet few hours after that. Every second felt tense.

Gothi, as per usual, didn't say much, and there was no one else in the hut. Gobber had left to speak with the council, who was, at the moment, deciding her fate.

Once Gothi was done, she was alone.

Astrid ran her hand over the bandages on her stomach. The patient's bed was heavenly (creaky, but heavenly) and there was a large mug of water next to her.

There was also a knife. Astrid wasn't sure, but she suspected Gothi had left it there on purpose.

She fell asleep for a few hours, and when she woke up (from another nightmare) it was nighttime, and there was someone quietly opening the door to the hut.

"Who's there?" Astrid gasped, and when there wasn't an immediate response, she grabbed the knife and sat up, immediately crying out in pain.

"Hey, calm down. It's me."

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dark, but when they did, she saw Ruffnut standing there with a grin on her face.

Astrid groaned, sinking down on the pillow. "Go away. I'm resting. I'm a patient."

She was hungry and tired - she didn't want to be questioned.

"Now is that any way to treat the person who bought you more food?" Ruff asked in a sing-song voice.

Immediately, Astrid sat up again (slower, this time) as Ruff set down a plate with bread and chicken.

 _G-o-o-o-d-s_ , it tasted amazing.

"So…" Ruff broke the empty sound of her smacking her lips after a few minutes. "Hiccup's really...gone, huh?"

Swallowing a bite, Astrid looked away, ashamed.

"I'm sorry," Ruff said quietly, reaching forward and taking her hand. "Did you see it?"

Astrid looked at her, meeting her eyes. How much could she tell her? Sure, Ruffnut was the only one who was bothering to think about what she herself had been through, but would she remain that way if she knew the real story? Hiccup's story?

This could all be a ploy, too - after Tuff's outburst, it was possible that the twins were questioned further and Ruff sent to interrogate her.

"I saw it," she revealed hesitantly, "the ambush. I saw the dragons kill him."

"And why wouldn't they kill you?"

Astrid looked away, and found she didn't want to talk about how she wished that she had been the one to take the fall. She wanted - or had wanted - to die.

"I don't know."

"Did you -"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"But -"

"I don't," she said firmly, "want to talk about it."

* * *

She was found innocent.

But not really. Not with the way everyone was treating her.

Some people scowled, some people glared, and a select few didn't even bother to meet her eyes, including her mother.

She certainly wasn't going to go back home.

Gobber offered to let her spend the night in the forge, and she nearly took him up on it too. Then, she actually entered the forge.

Immediately, she wanted to cry. Everything in there just reminded her of Hiccup.

So she slept behind the Great Hall, in clothes Ruffnut had let her borrow, breathing softly with her hands on her stomach as she looked up at the sky. Her thoughts were consumed with the thought of Hiccup's last flight. He had both opened up a whole new world and destroyed everything she knew.

As she tried to drift off, she remembered Toothless.

Oh gods.

Toothless!

She sat up quickly as her breathing got unsteady. Toothless was trapped with the other dragons, and...and…

And just what the Hel did she think she was gonna do about it?

She wasn't in any better position than he was. She had her freedom, but she was an outcast in a village hat was clearly ready to turn their backs on her. If she freed the Night Fury...she shuddered to think what could happen to her.

She leaned back against the rocky wall, pushing her bangs back behind her ear and breathing softly. With time, this shame would wear off. Her mother would calm down. She could prove herself again, make the Hofferson family honorable again.

But…

Astrid shut her eyes tightly.

But it wouldn't be what Hiccup would have wanted.

She put a hand on her bandages and looked up to the sky. Just a little while ago, she had been up there, with the wind in her hair, and it had been -

Well, it had been terrifying. But beautiful. And, well, amazing.

She lay down, holding her hand up to the stars. Inside, a storm was brewing. Hiccup may have been her future chief, but she wasn't loyal to him, she was loyal to Berk. And Berk would kill her if she freed the dragons.

But a pounding presence in her heart told her she'd live guiltily for the rest of her life if she didn't.

* * *

After two days, she finally worked up the nerve to go into the forge. Gobber was hammering away on a sword, looking morose, so Astrid didn't disturb him. She walked into Hiccup's workshop quietly.

It didn't look like anyone had come yet - it was just as messy as she remembered. Stoick and Gobber were the only ones who would have reason to come back here, and they must have still been too shocked with grief.

Sure, they had raised Hiccup, but she had seen him die before her eyes.

Maybe that was why she was trembling.

Controlling herself, Astrid stepped forward, taking Hiccup's notebook. Before opening it, she hesitated, biting her lip. She had seen him carrying this around, it had been important to him. Could she really look at his personal thoughts and ideas?

Well, she had to. Otherwise, she'd never know what to do about Toothless. Astrid had been lucky that there hadn't been any raids in the past two days, her conflicted feelings might keep her from even running the fire brigade effectively. That was, if she was even allowed out during the fight.

She opened the notebook, and the first thing she saw was an entry, undated.

Her curiosity tugged at her. But she wasn't going to intrude more than she had to, even if her own name was littered throughout the page a few times.

Instead, she flipped through to a dated entry from about a month ago. She furrowed her brows and peered at it closely.

 _We fought the Nadder AGAIN today. She came at me all of a sudden, I don't know why they always come towards me, but I'm guessing it's either because they've guessed by now that I won't do any serious harm, or because I smell like the dragon nip._

 _Anyway, I scratched her on the same spot Toothless likes, and she dropped to the ground straight away. I was scared that Gobber might finally catch on that I was never raising a weapon against the dragon, but he was too focused on Astrid, who yelled and threw her axe to the ground before leaving. She gets madder and madder the more I improve, which makes sense, but it's not like I'm ASKING the dragons to come towards me._

 _I have to be careful. If this keeps up, then they're going to choose me to be the one that kills the Nightmare. That really doesn't make sense, by the way. Only the best of the best fight Monstrous Nightmares, so why would a kid who just topped his very short class be expected to do the same?_

 _The viking way never made sense to me, but after meeting Toothless, it's only gotten worse._

 _Maybe I'm not a viking. I fly with a dragon almost every day, for Thor's sake._

Astrid sighed, sitting down and running her fingers over the same page Hiccup had written on once.

Well, he was certainly right about one thing. He was no viking. Or no typical viking - she didn't exactly have the right to take his birthright from him.

There were a couple of interesting things. She remembered the day he was talking about - she had replayed it in her mind obsessively, wondering how Hiccup had made a dragon faint while looking like the most non-intimidating person she had ever seen. So he had scratched it somewhere, probably near its neck or chin.

And something called dragon nip attracted dragons. Possibly.

Everything was so hypothetical. She groaned inwardly.

The next page had a complicated drawing of Toothless's tailfin. Everything was labeled and yet she understood none of it. There were other drawings sprawled across the table that she knew she had to hide before anyone else saw.

Reading forward, she discovered that the day the troops had returned, Hiccup and Toothless had had their first successful flight. It was exhilarating, just reading about it.

She knew that the next entry was the last one, and she didn't want to read it, but she did.

 _Well, I won._

 _I won. Oh gods._

 _I suppose I have to start packing after I write this. I'll leave it here for my dad to find, but I doubt he'll even look at it properly. Maybe Gobber will, though, and he'll tell him._

 _I don't know if I'm happy or sad. I KNOW that killing dragons is wrong, but that doesn't mean I want my dad and my...friends? and Astrid to keep doing it for the rest of their lives. I don't want them to become needless killers._

 _Maybe I AM making a huge mistake. Maybe everyone can change. But I can't risk Toothless, waiting for that to happen. If you're reading this, Dad, I'm really sorry._

She brushed away the tear that had formed when he wrote that he didn't expect his dad to look at the journal, and had dripped down her cheek when he separated her from his friends.

Because she had never treated him like a friend, not even when he was the village hero.

Astrid clenched her fist, standing up and closing the journal.

Hiccup had died as the village hero. They would never know what dishonor he had performed - they would never know exactly how much of a hero he was, how brave he had been, how reckless, how stubborn…

They would never realize that Hiccup had been the best viking of them all.

* * *

As soon as she heard the first call of "Dragon raid!" Astrid was up and awake. She had taken Gobber's proposal to the forge, finally, if only so she could properly hide the incriminating notes.

It was late at night as the village came to life.

The dragons weren't going to steal much, if anything, today, she knew. Without a Night Fury blasting their best men and their lookouts, the dragons had lost a great advantage.

Which meant that not only would some die on Berk, but the ones that went back to their queen would die as well. She felt queasy just thinking about it.

Astrid ran to the front of the forge, where Gobber was already working. He piled weapons to the men and women outside as fast as he could, and just by watching, she knew that the vikings were going to be at a disadvantage as well, because as fast as Gobber was working, he was also doing the grimy work that was usually reserved for Hiccup.

Hiccup and Toothless, both gone, both leaving the humans and dragons to manage without them.

Maybe that would even the dragons' odds.

Astrid ran up to Gobber, her hands itching to do something, anything.

But he stopped her, putting a hand up. "Fire brigade. Go."

She stepped back, hurt, but didn't respond as she ran out of the forge. She could see the other teens, rushing into battle for the first time, while she was tasked with her old job, to put out the mess.

Her punishment fit her crime. She had failed to do anything to save Hiccup, so now she wasn't going to do anything.

People didn't spare her second glances as she ran with a bucket of water in her hands towards a house that had been set on fire by a Deadly Nadder. Skidding to a stop, she doused the fire, turning around to come face to face with that Nadder.

Astrid gasped, dropping the bucket and backing up against the house. The heat burned into her clothes and her back as the Nadder crept closer.

They had always come across dragons in the past, but since the teens always went out as a group, one of them was always able to call for help, or distract the dragon. One way or the other, they would escape.

They were also unafraid to hurt the dragon if need be.

She had lost all her usual methods, and she was afraid.

The Nadder didn't fire, only coming closer as she held out her hands. They were shaking.

Was this a monster, or scared victim?

She had to decide now - right away -

Astrid screamed, loudly, drawing the attention of several people. The Nadder, now agitated, growled and opened its mouth, where she saw a glowing light emerging - oh gods, it was coming -

The Nadder didn't get the chance.

A mace was thrown at its throat and it fell with a thud, leaving Astrid shaking all over with her eyes wide and her hand over her mouth.

She didn't look at who had thrown the weapon. Every part of her wanted to scream again, but this time in the hopes that it would rouse the creature. It hadn't attacked her. It had just gotten closer.

She couldn't look at it anymore. She had killed it. She had killed another!

Astrid ran. She ran, finally feeling the burn that was definitely going to bruise on her back from the wood of the house. She ran, until her legs ached. She ran, not knowing where she was running to.

She found herself outside of the arena.

Berk looked lit up from here, with vikings running and screaming and swinging their weapons this way and that, and dragons roaring and breathing their terrible fire, with both sides engaged in a bloody, brutal battle.

This was the war Hiccup had been on the verge of stopping.

Behind her, she heard faint thumps and she turned around. Inside the arena, from one of the closed doors, there was a dragon hitting the doors trying to break free.

Her eyes scanned the other doors - she knew the dragons behind them. Until recently, the cage holding the loud dragon had been empty.

So that was the cage holding the Night Fury.

Had he heard her scream? Was that why he was hurting himself trying to break the doors she knew he wouldn't be able to, especially if he was muzzled and chained?

Astrid panted, turning once again to look at Berk.

She had thought, that after the Nadder's death, three deaths were on her conscience.

But that wasn't the case.

Every man, woman, child, or dragon that died tonight would die because of her. Because she had turned the tides of this battle, all because of one mistake.

She had answered her own question.

It wasn't heroic, it wasn't brave, but for the sake of her own sanity, she could no longer kill a dragon.

Oh, gods.

 **It's a long one! Lemme know what you think - the longer the review, the more inspiration I have to post faster.**

 **Sidenote: To answer certain reviews, if you don't believe you will enjoy a story in which Astrid has to live without Hiccup, then you may certainly push that back button at the top of your screen. You will find no opposition from me. Good luck with that!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much to my beta reader Queen Bovine! I've never been so satisfied with a chapter.**

Astrid shivered as she ran through the village as quietly as she could, the wind playing with her hair. The Thorstons were of an even lower standing than the Hoffersons, so she expected Ruff's clothes to be of a lesser quality than she was used to, but it would still be a while for her to be comfortable with the cold biting into her like this.

Granted, she should have been used to the cold, but it was easier to blame that for the shivering than the fear of being caught.

She crept into the arena, a vivid memory springing up of all the times she had yelled at Hiccup to get out of her way or to get down or to stop standing still if he wanted to live.

She stood in front of the Night Fury's doors, took a deep breath, and gripped the lever tightly before pulling it down.

The second the doors opened, Toothless, chained and muzzled, started thrashing against his restraints. Astrid gasped, sending a terrified look over her shoulder before she shut the doors again and backed away, breathing quickly.

This was crazy, this was so crazy, she was going to get killed.

She brushed her bangs from her forehead and blew out a puff of air, looking at the doors determinedly. If she didn't do this now, she'd never be able to do it. It had taken her all her nerve just to sneak a fish from the one of the fisherman's baskets and then actually come here. She had to do this now.

She waited just a minute to make sure no one was coming, then opened the doors again and hissed right away, "It's me!"

Toothless's eyes flitted to her face. She could make him out clearly in the moonlight, not looking quite so dangerous or threatening when he was restricted (not that he looked safe by any means, but she wasn't as afraid to approach him).

She stepped in, slowly reaching out her hand and placing it on the leather muzzle keeping his mouth closed. The dragon closed his eyes, nudging into her hand as she let out a breath of relief.

She set the fish down, looking at the muzzle carefully.

"I'm going to open this now," she murmured, taking a deep breath, "and I swear, if you roar, or-or let out a call for help, we are both going to die on the spot."

He let out a huff, bowing his head gently in what she assumed to be agreement. More than assumed, actually — she hoped beyond hope that it was agreement.

She took off the muzzle gently, letting it drop to the floor. Toothless, for his part, didn't make a sound, but he did gaze up at her meaningfully, even as she leaned down and picked up the fish she had brought, holding it out for him.

"Don't get slobber over my hand, either," she warned, creeping closer, "I'll have to go all the way down to the docks to —"

Toothless moved so fast she nearly missed it, snatching the fish from her hand, and she gasped, jerking back and pulling her hand to her chest. There was no spit on her skin; she wondered if he even had time to salivate with how fast he had gobbled up the fish just then.

He swallowed and looked at her expectantly. She shook her head, sitting down with her legs crossed.

"No, that's all I have. Now I have to put this back on you."

He huffed, turning his head away when she raised the muzzle to his face. When she moved to the other side, he did it again, letting out a laugh (if dragons could laugh) at making her crawl from side to side. Finally she threw the muzzle on the ground and crossed her arms.

"Fine. I won't put it back on." She raised a warning finger. "But when they see you, they'll think it was too weak and just put on a stronger one."

One point to her.

Against a dragon.

Astrid sighed.

Toothless grumbled but bowed his head, allowing her to put the muzzle on. She lingered, with her hand resting on his snout for a moment, but then removed it, letting it drop to her knees.

The two stared at each other for a minute. The dragon didn't look away, keeping his eyes trained on her. Her posture relaxed, her shoulders slumping, confident he wasn't going to hurt her. It was strange, that she could give him that benefit of the doubt but not the men and women in her village.

"What do I do?" she whispered, taking her eyes off him and looking at the floor. "To stop the war, I'd have to kill that-that dragon…" She swallowed, just the thought of the dragon queen sending shivers up her spine. "And I can't do that, look at the size of that thing! And even if I suddenly possessed the strength of all the gods, I'd need to be able to fly."

Toothless nudged her cheek gently, making her look up again. "I can't fly you," she argued, "I'd have to understand Hiccup's notes, and that'd take a century and a half. No, I'd need to fly another dragon, and-and perfect it, to be even close to how fluid you and Hiccup were. And do it all in secret, although frankly —" She pursed her lips, thinking of the past few weeks. "It must not be too hard to stay hidden, given how long Hiccup did it."

But even Hiccup had never been under as much scrutiny as she was now.

"Well, it's something I'll...think about. Nothing's happening just yet," she said with a warning tone, more to herself than Toothless.

She stood up, brushing herself off before Toothless pressed his snout into her hand. She felt his warm breath on her palm, and if she stayed still, could almost feel what he felt. As if all the pain they shared could be expressed in just a single touch.

Astrid knew she wouldn't be able to stay away for long.

As she closed the doors and turned to leave the arena, she stopped, hearing a crooning coming from one of the other cells. A dragon that sounded…

Well, it sounded sad.

Oh gods, this was getting ridiculous. She may have felt pity for Toothless, but she was not going to start feeding all of these dragons because of a damn sound. Her morals may have been shot, but her strong will wasn't completely gone.

Astrid bit her lip, shaking her head to convince herself as she stomped quietly out of the arena and tried to ignore the needy croon coming from inside.

Once outside, she leaned against the chains and ran a hand through her hair, sighing. Everything was such a mess.

A mess that she and she alone had to fix.

* * *

After a few days, someone finally caught on.

Astrid overheard a fisherman telling the chief they were ending up with a few fish short each week. It wasn't enough of a deficit to be a problem, but of course, Stoick had to treat it like someone had taken his favorite axe or something.

"If anyone knows who is taking the fish, I urge them to come forward!" He stood on the steps of the Great Hall as he made his announcement. Astrid swallowed, doing her best not to look away guiltily. "Winter will be upon us in a few months. We cannot risk losing anything."

Yes, they could. They were overstocked with food and a few swiped fish weren't going to do anything. But would she have thought the same way if she hadn't been the thief?

Astrid clicked her tongue in frustration. It was like there were two of her: dragon slayer Astrid, who loved Berk and hated dragons and wanted to be the best viking she could be; and dragon sympathizer Astrid, who had an annoying conscience in her head that sounded like Hiccup, telling her that dragons were kind creatures who needed her help. They were fighting a vicious battle inside her, and dragon sympathizer Astrid was stronger than she could have ever imagined.

"Did you do this?"

"What?" Astrid turned around and came face to face with her mother, who was giving her a steely glare. It was the first time the woman had spoken to her since she got back.

"Have you been stealing the fish?" Ingrid towered over her. "Don't tell me you're some common thief now."

Astrid stepped back, shaking her head rapidly. "No...no! This wasn't me. I didn't do it."

Her mother scowled, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "I may not have proof, but you're on thin ice, Astrid. You've brought dishonor to the Hofferson name for generations to come."

"I didn't mean to —" Astrid looked down in shame, her cheeks turning red. "— to let him die. I couldn't do anything."

"And now your descendants will pay the price," Ingrid said coldly.

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Astrid feeling guilty for a crime she was wholly responsible for, but not for reasons anyone thought she was. If her mother found out what had really happened...then her descendants would be shamed for a lot more than lacking the strength to protect their chief.

The thought left her wondering how long she'd be able to keep up the act.

* * *

Gobber left the forge late that night. He bid her a goodnight, seeming not to notice that he hadn't blown the light out. Well, it wasn't a problem for Astrid. She didn't quite want to be alone in the dark. It was childish, but the gigantic dragon at the nest still haunted her dreams.

She was startled from her study of Hiccup's notes on Toothless's tailfin by the loud clang of a sword being knocked over. She looked up to see Tuffnut leaning in from the window pane, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Hey, Hoff."

"Hey," she responded tiredly, standing up."Sorry if you needed anything, the old man just left."

Tuffnut stared at her oddly, leaning forward with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes like she was a test subject to be analyzed.

"Actually, I was checking up on you."

Astrid yawned, setting the journal down before walking over to him and placing her arms in front of his, leaning in sleepily. "I don't need to be checked up on."

"And that's why you have dark bags under your eyes," Tuff pointed out, matter-of-fact. "And your hair is messy. And your clothes are ruffled. And —"

Astrid shot him a dry look as he went on. Tuffnut Thorston was so, so much smarter and more observant than he let anyone know. His sister was as well, but the difference was that Ruff didn't work too hard to hide her clever side, while Tuff seemed to prefer that people think him dumb. It worked to his advantage, she supposed, which made him smarter than the average viking akk on its own.

She finally interrupted him as he kept listing off her symptoms. "I just haven't been able to sleep. Watching your heir die in front of you will do that."

(All the nightly visits to a certain Night Fury factored in as well, but that part she kept to herself.)

It was quiet for a few seconds, then she took a deep breath. "Listen...I never thanked you for standing up for me when I was in the arena."

Tuffnut shrugged, a small smile on his face. "You're welcome."

"I haven't said it yet." Astrid clicked her tongue. "Thank you, Tuffnut."

He grinned, tapping her nose. "We're friends, Astrid, we always have been. You've got people on your side."

And with that, he picked up the sword he had knocked over, turned around, and left. Astrid watched him go with her brows furrowed.

She hadn't realized that there were sides, but now it was a little comforting knowing that one of the boldest people she knew was on hers.

* * *

Her newfound moral code was going to get her killed.

She was running (again!), with seven fish in a basket, praying that no one would hear her footsteps. Up until now, she had only fed Toothless, but the guilt was driving her mad.

Once she got to the arena, Astrid set the basket down and took out a small dagger, holding it at the ready. The other dragons, unlike Toothless, were not chained. She slowly pulled down the lever, bracing herself.

Nothing happened.

Astrid peeked in. The blue Deadly Nadder was fast asleep, her wings curled over her head. Astrid stepped in slowly with her dagger and a single fish, closing the doors and submerging herself in darkness.

This was such a bad idea. She was actively taking away her biggest weapon and trapping herself with a dragon that could throw Odin-damned spines.

She reached out for the Nadder slowly, blindly, cautiously. Her hand found its tail, and she winced when she felt a spine prick her finger, thankfully not hard enough to draw blood. She had enough injuries as it was.

The Nadder stirred. A jolt of fear went up Astrid's spine and she let out a gasp. The tail zipped away from her, quickly, like it had been yanked.

The dragon was awake.

"Fuck," Astrid whispered.

For a moment, neither of them moved. And then a large head suddenly pushed into her stomach, sniffing her. Astrid stifled a cry of fear that threatened to escape her. That became harder when the dragon let out a snarl, clearly recognizing her from their...vigorous training sessions.

Astrid whimpered as she was forced to step back, still clutching the dagger tightly. Her back hit the cold wall. She could practically hear the sound of her imminent death. Astrid slid down against the wall, defeated, holding up the fish and shutting her eyes tight.

After a stretch of fearful silence, she felt hot breath on her hands, and then the fish was taken from her. She opened her eyes, faintly making out the dragon swallowing the fish, before she lowered her head and nuzzled her shoulder gently in thanks.

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief.

One down, four to go.

* * *

She had survived the night, although all the feedings were as terrifying as the first, except maybe the Terrible Terror, and even that greedy little demon had nearly bit her hand off before accepting the fish. That was, of course, before it decided she was a friend and curled up in her hair. It had taken Astrid ten whole minutes to pry him from her locks, and by the time she got to Toothless, her hair needed to be completely rebraided. She took care of it as she talked to him, the only person — well, animal — that listened to her rambles.

Now she sat in Hiccup's workshop in the forge, reading his notebook again, a passing hobby of hers. She still hadn't looked at the early pages, not wanting to pry, but she had read through the entries from after he had shot down Toothless, mentally berating herself for missed all that happening right here on Berk. Especially the forge incident — of course Toothless had been right inside!

Her eyes scanned over the first rough draft of the prosthetic tail. It was the simplest out of all of them, and yet she still couldn't understand it.

And she never would. Astrid snapped the book shut, frustrated.

She knew how to throw things, not how to make them.

Thinking of Toothless then, she sighed. He and the other captured dragons — even if they were let out, they might still be prisoners of the giant dragon. The queen.

Well, maybe it was time to expand her skillset a little.

Astrid walked out of Hiccup's little workshop, going over to Gobber, who was whistling under his breath as he fixed up a sword. It clanged loudly each time he hit it with his hammer-hand.

"Gobber?"

"Astrid." He nodded his head in acknowledgement. "What can ah do fur ye?"

Astrid took a deep breath, Hiccup's journal still clutched tightly in her hands.

"I want you to take me on as an apprentice. I want you to teach me how to work the forge."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to my beta reader Queen Bovine!**

Astrid's nights quickly became less and less filled with sleep and more and more with reading Hiccup's notes. She would only go to bed once the words started blurring on the page.

It was extremely unhealthy, and yet she felt better than she had for the first few weeks after Hiccup's death. At least now it was rigorous studying that was keeping her up instead of nightmares.

By the time she would go to sleep, she'd be too tired to worry about nightmares.

The downside was that the lack of sleep would take its toll on her during the day.

Gobber, being his typical self, did not see the need to supervise her after the first week of their training. It hadn't been too hard to convince him to take her on as an apprentice, although she did have to lie about why she wanted to do it. (If she had said something about honoring Hiccup's memory, it would have led to an awkward conversation, so instead she simply said she wanted to help the smith out during the raids. She tried not to think too hard about the fact that she would still be contributing to the deaths of the dragons she was now apparently trying to save).

So Astrid found herself alone, sharpening a dagger with a grindstone. It was a task she had done many times now, with a sword, an axe, even a spear. The difference was that today, she was finding it just a little difficult to keep...her eyes...open…

Until she felt hot sparks burn her arm.

Astrid yelled out a string of curses, dropping the dagger and clutching her stinging limb.

"Freya, Frigg— fuck," she hissed, wringing her hands in a weak attempt to stop the pain. Trying not to focus on it too hard, she made her way to Gothi's hut (seriously, whose bright idea was it to have their only healer live so high above the rest of the village?) and knocked on the door with her good hand.

Gothi opened the door and gave the burnt arm she put on display an unimpressed gaze. The elderly woman proceeded to hook her staff under Astrid's shoulder and yank her inside, directing her to the bed. She then grabbed a wet cloth, before wiping the burn clean as Astrid grit her teeth under the light pressure.

Gothi applied a salve on her arm, which was a lot more soothing, and then she wrapped the burn in a linen cloth. Her arm still stung a little, but that was better than the sharp, hot pain she had been experiencing before.

Astrid thanked Gothi, whose expression made it seem like the best way she could show her gratitude was to leave her in peace.

"Fine, fine, I'm leaving." She stepped out, sighing when she realized the sun was starting to set.

Time for her nightly activities to begin.

* * *

Astrid made it a point to leave Toothless for last so that she could talk to him without having to worry about feeding the other dragons. By that time, certain areas of her clothes would be coated in dragon saliva (that _damn_ Terrible Terror!), she smelled like fish, and the day would truly catch up with her.

"—and even though I can make weapons, and sharpen them, it's like I'm moving at a sheep's pace with your tail! Hiccup's notes are written in a way that—that only he could possibly understand them." She was lying down on the cold stone floor, Toothless letting out grunts here and there as though he understood every single thing she said, which she was starting to suspect he did.

"And Stoick is still hunting for this fish thief— _me_ —which means there's guards on patrol at night. Which means that I have to sneak around like Loki himself has possessed me! If someone catches me, I'll probably have to use that excuse, and that won't stop them from banishing me to Outcast Island."

He laughed one of his dragony laughs, and despite herself, she let out a dry chuckle as well, running a hand over her face and wincing when the skin under the linen wrap tingled with a slight pain.

"Oh, and look at this." She sat up and slowly unwrapped the cloth, revealing her red skin. "Burnt. I dozed off while sharpening some stupid dagger. And I guess that means I should sleep more, right? I would, but I'm…" She lowered her voice, as though someone else might hear. "I'm just...afraid to go to sleep, I guess. Afraid of nightmares, but also of letting my guard down. Not that I think someone will stab me in my sleep, but—eww, what are you doing!?"

Toothless dragged his tongue across her arm as she squirmed in disgust. Another protest died on her lips when she felt the pain fade away. Her skin was still red, but other than that, it didn't feel like she had been burned mere hours ago.

It was incredible.

"Whoa." Astrid's eyes widened as Toothless leaned back, observing his handiwork. "How did you...that saliva of yours must have some amazing healing properties."

Toothless warbled proudly and Astrid put a finger to her lips, smiling. He quieted down and she murmured, "This could change the tides, you know. Salves could work ten times faster than they do now. Vikings would kill to have this kind of—"

She paused, frowning, because it wasn't an exaggeration. Vikings would actually kill to have this kind of ability. If the Vikings ever found out that the Night Fury could do this, they wouldn't keep him alive, they would kill him and salvage his saliva. Or even worse, keep him alive to generate a constant stream of salves while they experimented on other dragons to see if they could do the same.

Toothless, sensing her unease, nudged his snout against her cheek. Astrid took a deep breath, and for what seemed like the first time since this ordeal started, let herself smile a real, genuine smile.

His secret was safe with her.

"Thank you," she murmured, starting to tie her hair up again, "for taking care of me."

* * *

A few nights later, Astrid was mentally complimenting herself on just how stealthy she could be. Who knew that the skills she had learned in dragon training would come in handy when one became a full-fledged thief? Certainly not her.

(She had now started stealing only once a week, but stealing enough so that every dragon could get at least half a fish every night. She hoarded a bit of her food at mealtimes, because more often than not she felt terribly guilty giving them only the bare minimum to eat. Especially the Deadly Nadder, who would let out quiet, tragic croons that made Astrid's heart sink.)

Just as she was accepting her own personal thievery award, someone called out, "Astrid? What are you doing?"

She froze, nearly dropping the fish she was holding as she slowly turned around, trying to keep her guilty expression under control before she came face to face with...Snotlout?

"Snotlout? What are _you_ doing?"

"I was...assigned to the guard tonight." His eyes were wide as he stared at the amount of fish in her hands. "To—to catch the fish thief."

"Right. The fish thief." Astrid swallowed, holding the fish tightly. "Well, you're late, you were supposed to be there an hour ago."

She already knew Snotlout would go and blab to Stoick. He'd been so mad at Tuff that day he'd spoken up on her behalf, almost as mad as she would have been if it was someone other than her.

Tuff had said he was on her side. Snotlout was most definitely not on her side.

Why did he have to be late? She could have gotten away with it if only Snotlout was early like he was supposed to be!

Astrid was psyching herself up to start running, steal a boat from one of the fishermen and sail far, far away, when Snotlout spoke up quietly, "You don't have to steal, you know. If you want—need—food, I'll just bring you some."

Well, that wasn't what she'd been expecting.

Something along the lines of "you traitor" and "just you wait" was what she had anticipated.

Still, Astrid didn't know what to say. She wanted to say that there was no need for him to pity her, that she got enough food in the Great Hall during mealtimes. But she couldn't, because then who would she say the fish were for? The truth wasn't an option.

But saying that she robbed her own people because she was _hungry_ didn't exactly make her look good either.

"I'm just...preparing," she said, sounding a little more snappy than she had meant to. "This village has turned their backs on me, Snotlout. It's only a matter of time until the chief banishes me."

"That's not true." He frowned, taking a step closer to her. "Stoick is...mad, yeah— _angry_ —but he's not—you know—like—going to banish you," he finished awkwardly.

Astrid took a deep breath. "I'm just learning to fend for myself." Then, feeling a little more bold, she asked, "Are you going to turn me in or not?"

"Turn you in? Why would I turn you in?"

Astrid raised a brow. He had a lot of nerve asking her that when she had seen him yelling at Tuff for standing up for her. Not to mention, while _she_ knew Hiccup had cheated in dragon training, Snotlout didn't, and had truly respected him for achieving such a high status. They knew him as Hiccup the Hero, she knew him as...Hiccup the Dragon Rider.

And she hadn't protected someone Snotlout considered a hero. His anger wasn't misplaced, just misinformed.

"I saw you. When Tuff said I was injured, you yelled at him."

Snotlout frowned, like he was playing the memory in his head. "That's not why I was yelling at him, Astrid. It's because I was going to say it."

Astrid's mouth fell open slightly. She hadn't been expecting that either. Why was Snotlout of all people surprising her so much?

"Tuff isn't…" He shrugged. "You know the Thorstons don't exactly have a high standing in the village. I told him I was gonna stand up for you, so that he wouldn't get in trouble, but then he got impatient and did it instead. That's why I yelled at him, Astrid."

She swallowed, now feeling bad for doubting him. It wasn't like Snotlout had ever been cruel to her, just overly annoying. It was just that...well, it seemed like the entire world was against her, and Snotlout—buff, macho, everything-that-made-a-viking-a-viking _Snotlout_ —was everything that modeled that world.

"Oh. Well…"

It was one thing to thank Ruffnut and Tuffnut—thanking Snotlout was something else entirely.

"Thanks," she finally whispered, quick and short.

"I didn't actually do anything," he said, just as quietly.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment before he said, a little too loudly, "Right then, so...I—I guess you better put that in your fish storage, or wherever you're...where are you keeping all this fish? You know what, never mind, it doesn't matter. I'll see you...tomorrow, Astrid."

"Right." She nodded, finding it difficult just to swallow nervously. Something had changed between them, but she didn't realize what it was until after she left him standing there.

He had gained true compassion for her, and she had gained respect for him. It was a strange feeling.

She decided to block it out of her mind for now, and go back to awarding herself Fish Thief of the Year.

Her secret was safe and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Forging was so complicated.

But, as Astrid found, it was also soothing and challenging, in its own unique way, whether that be hours of busywork, or working through an unexpected problem. And while she was restless more often than not, itching to throw something or to tumble and run, time passed faster than she realized. Night was falling by the time she managed to take a break and look up.

While Hiccup's notes on the tailfin made sense now, it was still...broken. She understood different individual parts, but didn't get how Toothless could possibly fly if she simply attached a fake fin to his tail, no matter what metal or material she used.

And all the minute technical details written on the sides of the pages didn't help.

She didn't have Hiccup's brain. And she couldn't understand how this contraption of his had worked. At best, Toothless would be able to glide for a few seconds before crashing.

Astrid traced Hiccup's drawing with her thumb gently, careful not to wipe it away by accident. She trailed the charcoal down to the edge of the page, then paused.

The answer was there. She tapped the drawing impatiently. She knew she was close, she just needed to know what happened beyond the page.

If Hiccup's small details were confusing her, then she had to revert to her own way and look at the big picture.

The tail. Toothless needed a tail. He needed to fly. But Toothless, as smart as he was, was still an animal, and could not work out the mechanics. He needed someone else to do it. Hiccup. Toothless couldn't fly without Hiccup, or well, someone. Which meant that Hiccup had to be controlling the tail.

Astrid gasped loudly.

Hiccup had been controlling the tail!

She looked back at the drawing, then flipped to a blank page, taking the charcoal on the desk and drawing a very rough, ugly version of what was supposed to be beyond the tail.

The _rigging for Hiccup's foot._

Well, the rigging for _her_ foot, now. Astrid looked down at her boot, moving it up and down as excitement bubbled up in her. She had done it. She had really done it.

"I can't believe it! I actually figured it out!"

"Figured what out?"

Astrid snapped her head up as Gobber stumbled in, clearly a little tipsy. She snapped Hiccup's journal closed, heart pounding. The fear of being caught made her fingers tremble, just a little.

"Nothing. I just—er...I've been…" She waved a hand, chuckling weakly as her mind raced to come up with an excuse. "I was...trying to learn to draw a sword."

It was the worst lie she'd ever told, and she knew she would lie awake for years to come and cringe over it.

(That was, if she lived that long.)

Gobber stared at her oddly, and then muttered, "Ya don' have to become him, you know."

"What?" Her eyes widened. He knew? Oh gods, he knew. She was caught.

"I know what yer doin'," he slurred, "forging, drawing, sitting in this room for hours...yer tryin' to be just like Hiccup."

Damn, the gods must be showing her mercy, because Gobber was coming up with better excuses than she was. Without thinking, she nodded eagerly, and then watched as the man's face fell.

"Yer not him, Astrid." Gobber turned away, and his voice cracked as he said, "You'll never be him. Stop kiddin' yerself."

She felt like she'd been slapped.

"No, Gobber, I don't mean—I'm not trying to _replace_ him…"

"Forget it," the man muttered as he left.

The victorious feeling in her stomach had been replaced by that heavy, ever-present guilt. The rest of the Berkians, they had lost their heir, the supposed dragon-killing master.

But Gobber, he had lost the boy he raised. And he had let that boy's murderer into his home, had trained her, and dealt with his pain every day.

Meanwhile, she had snuck into that boy's workshop and taught herself all his secrets.

Astrid grit her teeth, flipping back to the page with her drawing, and tried to get herself to focus. She knew what she had to do. Gobber's pain and her guilt needed to take a backseat while she made this tailfin.

After the work was done, she'd have plenty of time to dwell on everything else.

* * *

It took her another few weeks to make something that looked even remotely like the tailfin Toothless had been wearing before they crashed. But once she did, it was _magnificent._

Astrid entertained herself by opening and closing the fin a few times in front of Toothless as he took his time eating (by now, all the dragons had figured out that there wasn't much to eat, so they savored each bite).

Once he was done, she held up the fin, raising a brow. "So, what do you think?"

Toothless leaned forward to sniff it and snarled. Astrid leaned back, alarmed, as he bared his teeth. She pulled the fin back against her chest—it had taken her ages and buckets of frustrated tears to make the damned thing; she would _not_ let him destroy it.

But once he seemed to realize what it was, Toothless lit up, bouncing excitedly until she shushed him. She tried to calm him down by placing a hand on his snout until he licked her face.

"Eww! Toothless! Again?" Astrid wiped her face and glared at the Night Fury, who was gazing at the tailfin in a way every woman hoped a man would look at them. **(1)**

"Yeah, it looks good, doesn't it?" She gazed at it as well, still trying to get dragon spit off her face as she fingered the edge of the fin. "We just need to test it out…"

At that, Toothless warbled sadly, tugging against his chains to make a point. She frowned, crossing her arms. How exactly would they test it out when he couldn't leave his cell?

Astrid leaned forward to examine the chains and hummed thoughtfully. They could be broken by a heated weapon. And she just happened to have access to one (or several).

The problem was the aftermath.

Astrid smirked. A battle strategy, now that was something she could figure out.

"Well then, demon, I think it's time to stage a breakout."

 **(1) I'm not trying to exclude same sex couples. Astrid just isn't exposed to much at this point in her life. I hope no one will take that joke too seriously.**

 **Astrid smiled in this chapter? Multiple times? That's crazy. Get out of here.**


End file.
